BrewDog Punk IPA, Alcohol Free, 4 x 330ml

Product Information

On the nose, this one can be a little bit baffling. There’s citrus, sure, along with some florals, but one of the dominant players is a mustier, more exotic profile of tropical fruit that seems to alternate between enticing and unpleasant each time I raise the glass to my nose. The word “overripe” comes to mind in terms of describing this tropical fruitiness, although there are more conventional notes of pine needles and florals as well. On the palate, I actually get a little bit of crisp grain, which I wasn’t necessarily expecting, but there’s something about the fruitier flavors that is slightly uncanny. Bitterness is minimal, and from sip to sip it’s hard to form a permanent impression of how much residual sweetness there is, but it evokes a certain artificiality. We’ve officially hit the time of year when beer and spirits writers are now bombarded with samples and press releases about non-alcoholic and low-alcohol offerings, and for me it comes at a fortuitous time. One of the problems with Scottish brewery Brewdog’s “punk” ethos is it keeps doing stuff that’s, well, just not really very punky. Svart/Hvit from @nogneo . Treacle, coffee, roasted malts and vanilla on the nose, restrained bitterness with more roasted grains, coffee and a slight caramel sweetness as we taste. Lovely hefty body. Could easily pass for a full-fat stout free-beer.co.uk/nogne-o-svar… #alcoholfree @FreeBeer_UK - Sep 5

Punk AF pours a light straw colour – quite a lot lighter than the original I fancy. The first bottle I tried looked a bit flat, with hardly no head or lacing. But the second (from the same batch) looked better in the glass, with a modest white head. Ghost Walker is BrewDog’s collaboration with metal band Lamb of God, which is a pretty freaking 2020-esque sentence if you ask us—a legendary heavy metal band with their own non-alcoholic beer. That’s certainly a fun novelty, although in terms of profile, this beer is actually quite similar to the previous Hazy AF. They don’t necessarily play up the “hazy” aspect, but the flavor profile it’s going for hits very close to the same tropical fruit-driven IPA. A beautifully balanced, full-flavoured premium lager, with a pronounced hoppy bitterness and a crisp, clean and refreshing finish, this is meant to be savoured. Compared to Brewdog’s other pale ale, Nanny State, Punk AF has fewer varieties of malt and more varieties of hops. As with a lot of BrewDog’s offerings (and IPAs in general), the flavour of Punk AF might not be up everyone’s street, and certainly the ardent lager drinker will probably turn up their nose at the abundance of hops. But I’d say that this is probably one of the non-alcoholic beers that could fool a beer drinker into thinking its the ‘real thing’. This certainly graces the beer shelf in my fridge a few times a month. Buy BrewDog Punk AFif earlier) 14 days after the day you provide us with evidence that you have returned the Goods to us; or Elvis AF is simply the AF twist on the company’s year-round Elvis Juice, which is a grapefruit IPA. I’ve written before about how I’m not terribly fond of that particular style—it really flared into popularity and faded out faster than most—but I’m not sure I’ve ever sampled BrewDog’s take on it, so I’m not terribly sure what to expect here. I’m mostly just hoping that it doesn’t taste overwhelmingly artificial. Alcohol itself also provides bitterness, so strength is also a factor. The main purpose of the grain is to be germinated and malted, via which biochemistry produces the sugars that the yeast feeds on and that produce alcohol. That’s not to say the grain has no effect on the flavour – it does – but it can be dialled up and down, and there are grains that are similar to barley in flavour. AF beers on the other hand average out at about 70 calories per can based on our review data, less than half that of a full-strength beer. We've also reviewed non-alcoholic beers that are much lower in calorie content, with the lowest being Unltd IPA, which contains a mere 13.2 calories per bottle. You'd have to drink about 12 of these to consume the same number of calories contained in a typical 5% ABV lager. You may only transfer your rights or your obligations under these Terms to another person if we agree in writing.

The guarantee provided above is in addition to your legal rights in relation to Goods that are defective, faulty or not as described. Advice about your legal rights is available from your local Citizens Advice Bureau or Trading Standards office. Take the brewery’s decision to take legal action over a pub because it had the same name as a Brewdog-owned range of spirits. Or when it stopped another bar from trademarking the term “draft punk”. Versus the 5.6% version of Punk IPA, there’s 68% fewer calories – 50 compared to 150 in a 330ml bottle. Taste, aroma and mouthfeel This remarkably low level of gluten is achieved through the use of an enzyme that breaks down the gluten and makes the drink safe for consumption by those with gluten intolerance, including coeliac disease. Hopped with Chinook, Simcoe, Mosaic and Nelson Sauvin and then dry-hopped with Ahtanum, Cascade, Chinook, Citra, Huell Melon and Simcoe, it is full flavour, low alcohol, all Punk. This is how you break free from the taste free. Stella ArtoisAlcohol-free beer, also known as low-alcohol beer, is meant to have the same taste as a regular beer without high alcohol content. It can contain anything from zero to 0.5% ABV (alcohol by volume), and in most instances, it will be a lager, but it can also be an ale and even an IPA. For those opting to stay away from alcohol, whatever the reason, our low-alcohol and alcohol-free range has become even more interesting, with two new additions. The truth is, however, that the barley in a beer is only part of the flavour. Hops are normally the key ingredient when it comes to flavour and aroma, and they balance out the natural sweetness by adding bitterness; but with a whole world of hops to choose from, they bring much more than that to the party. Brewmasters at Stella Artois have worked with specialists to skilfully remove alcohol, without altering the unique taste . It’s the malts that come to the fore in the taste assisted by herby, grassy and mango flavours. There’s a dash of bitterness, which is all it needs.

We are Milk & More, a trading name of MoreCo Group Limited (“MoreCo”). MoreCo is a Limited Company registered in England under Company number 13537233. Our registered office is at Second Floor, Park View, Riverside Way, Camberley, United Kingdom, GU15 3YL. The grain bill includes wheat and flaked oats alongside Caramalt and Munich malts. This is complemented by eight varieties of hops – Cascade, Chinook, Citra, Mosaic, Nelson Sauvin and Simcoe as well as two types not featured in the original Punk, Hüll Melon and Ahtanum. Yet, it’s still a decent drop. And because it’s likely to be available through Brewdog’s current sales channels, it will make a nice option when faced with limited alcohol-free choices in supermarkets and pubs. Punk AF versus Nanny StateIf an Event Outside Our Control takes place that affects the performance of our obligations under a contract: But if you look at the ingredients, you might be surprised to see that malted barley is listed alongside water, hops and yeast. How can that be gluten-free? Well, any product that has less than 20 parts per million of gluten can be listed as gluten-free by law, and indeed, Punk IPA GF satisfies those limits. Juicy tropical fruit mixes it up with grassy notes and a hit of resinous pine, all sitting on a solid foundation of four malts, while the bitter finish belies its ABV, providing the perfect retort to those who push alcohol-free beer devoid of character. If you’re an observer of the alcohol market, you know this to be the case. For decades, non-alcoholic beer was the stuff of punchlines, associated with bad-tasting products consumed by nebbish, timid drinkers. Today, however, with the advent of Dry January, Sober October and other initiatives by the “sober curious,” and coupled with a generational shift that sees Millennials and Gen Z consuming less alcohol than in previous decades, the N/A beer space is being taken far more seriously than it ever was before. Major craft players such as Lagunitas (via Heineken) or Brooklyn Brewery are brewing non-alcoholic craft beer styles, and entire breweries such as Athletic Brewing Co. are thriving on the concept of exclusively producing N/A beer. We’re essentially entering the golden age of non-alcoholic options—perfect, I must add, for a 34-year-old alcohol writer who can no longer drink like a 25-year-old alcohol writer.